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Tiffani Wood: How to share music with your kids

Tiffani Wood is a keen music lover and a mother. She's an entertainer and a teacher. But not necessarily in that order. A born performer, Wood began singing and dancing from an early age and in 2000, rose to fame when she joined all-girl band Bardot - which formed out of the Australian reality TV series, Popstars.

After spending more than eight years carving out a successful music career, Wood now prefers to use her musical talents to help other aspiring performers. In 2011 she opened her own vocal coaching school on the Gold Coast, where she lives with five year old daughter Lillian. Wood is a firm believer in the power of music and supports the notion that learning about music from a young age can teach kids much more than just how to clap to the beat.

Music for babies

After the birth of her daughter Lillian, in 2007, Wood felt her life begin to shift in a different direction. When Lillian was very small, Wood became aware that the soothing sounds from her friend’s acoustic guitar helped to settle Lillian into a restful sleep like nothing else could. “So I did a bit of research on acoustic guitars, and apparently the strumming and vibrations of the guitar are similar to the noises and feelings a baby experiences when they are in the belly”, says Wood. It was after this discovery that Wood decided to release her own album of lullabies, aptly named ‘Acoustic Dreams’.

Playing or singing lullabies to a baby is a practice that is centuries old. And while lullabies will always be an effective way of comforting and relaxing infants, the long-term benefits of playing music to young children are much more powerful. Exposing your kids to music from an early age gives them, what experts call, 'a rich sensory experience'. In fact, studies show that exposure to music early in life has positive effects on the developing brain and can assist in improving communication skills.

Music for toddlers and preschoolers

“My daughter has learnt to sing through watching me teach others,” Wood says, who, in her capacity as a vocal coach, has found that parents who sing in tune, often (but not always) have children who sing in tune. “It’s just like sport,” enthuses Wood, “If you are throwing the ball around with your parents when you are young, then you will be a great catcher. It’s the same with singing and dancing.” And the same thing can be said about musical instruments confirms Wood. “I think my daughter was three when I gave her a little toy piano with a stool and a little microphone – a few years later, we’ve now upgraded to a proper keyboard with a proper microphone. She knows how to use them because of the toy ones.”

Children are great mimics, so if you participate in musical activities with your child they will learn to respond to music much faster. Once your child begins to walk and talk, you can explore the world of music with her in a much more interactive way, than just playing her a CD. Singing simple songs with her or simply putting some music on and encouraging her to dance, is a great opportunity for your child to test her body and her voice.

Music for primary school- aged kids

Joining the school choir or the school band is a fantastic way for kids to further explore an interest in music. Musical instruments are generally introduced at school in Year two or three, along with the opportunity to join the school band. “Once kids pick up an instrument they either want to learn more or they go off it," says Wood. When it comes to one-on-one vocal training, Wood has always been reluctant to take on a student under the age of nine years old. She believes that starting this kind of training too young can sometimes do more harm than good. “If you criticise kids too much when they are young it can stay with them for the rest of their lives," she says. And intensive singing training at an early age can also strain kids’ vocal chords.

The best thing you can do for kids of all ages is to encourage an appreciation of music. “Expose your children to different types of music, not just popular stuff," says Wood. Introduce them to the sounds of country, jazz and classical and then sit back, relax and watch how they respond.

Seven ways to introduce music to your kids

Play music as often as possible. Rotate between different genres: pop, country, jazz, classical, etc.

Encourage singing, dancing and moving to a beat.

Give your child toy instruments to play with and look for which instrument they like best.

Make some instruments at home by putting rice into small plastic containers to make shakers or using old tins to make a drum.